Parental relationship and peer use of substance as psychosocial risk factors of heroin abuse in Pakistan

ABSTRACT

In the present investigation it was hypothesized that parental relationship and peer use of substance function as psychological risk factors of heroin abuse. Research design was formulated after conducting a pilot study on the above mentioned investigation of psycho-social risk factors of heroin abuse in Pakistan. A sample of one hundred subjects comprising of fifty heroin abusers and fifty matched non-users was taken. The data was collected from the psychiatry ward of the Civil Hospital Karachi. The psychosocial risk factors studied were assessed on the basis of information derived through intensive interviews, specially designed questionnaires, and Thematic Apperception Test [TAT] picture. A chi-square test of independence was applied for the statistical analysis of the data. Results obtained indicated that abusers perceived low positive parental relationship significantly more as compared to non-users. There was also a greater tendency among users to perceive peer use of substances as compared to non-users